Lawmaker pushes to change Texas law in the wake of Trayvon Martin case

State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, has vowed to repeal Texas’ “Castle Doctrine” that gives Texans similar protections as Florida’s “stand your ground” that has come under fire in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting.

Coleman said the Texas and Florida laws are nearly identical, and Martin’s case shows changes need to be made to Texas’ Castle Doctrine.

“The law is the same — the law that protects the guy that shot Trayvon,” Coleman said. “The law protects his actions and our law says the same thing.”

Similar laws are in at least 23 other states since 2003, officials said. The law creates a quandary for prosecutors and investigators because it shifts the burden to them to gather evidence to show deadly force wasn’t justified, according to a 2008 report from the National District Attorney’s Association.

South Texas College of Law professor Gerald Treece tells KHOU that Coleman’s proposal doesn’t stand much of a chance.

“I don’t have to retreat before I defend myself,” he said of the interpretation of Texas law even prior to the Castle Doctrine update in 2007.

“I don’t have to say, ‘Deadly force is going to be used, I think I’ll retreat.’ You can be a man in Texas and stand up for yourself without retreating,” said Treece.